Tag: fall food

Continuing on from my Autumn/Fall drive to eat seasonally I’ve plundered my plot for some of the veggies for this dish. It’s so lovely to still be picking at this time of year and shows that with a little planning your plot can work for you throughout the winter. Mr Kate’s Table planting guide is coming soon.

I love to prep a big pile of diced veggies to add to any of my dishes during the week but I wanted to make the point that this isn’t the only way to prep. Many of us don’t have the time or inclination to chop lots of veggies and that’s when your food processor can come in handy. I use the mini processor attachment of my Bamix all the time to shred, grate and chop, it is the most used bit of kit in my small kitchen. In this recipe I grated my veggies in here to make life easier.

Autumn veg lentil stew with shredded chicken and sauteed chard

This dish would make a great ‘meat free Monday’ meal too, just leave out the shredded Chicken and maybe roast in the oven a lovely big Portobello mushroom drizzled with a little olive oil and crush some garlic to pop inside, 20mins at a medium heat. Alternatively to turn them into something more luxurious add a glass of red wine and a handful of bacon lardons and serve with some Toulouse sausages. I love having leftovers of these lentils, they reheat well and make a great lunch to take to work or to make one of the suppers above.

Ingredients – Chicken and chard

500g Chicken thighs

1 sprig rosemary and 3 cloves of garlic

Large handful of chard/kale leaves sliced thinly, use the stalks

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 180/350. Crush your garlic cloves with the back of your knife, leaving the skin on. Pop your chicken thighs into a small roasting tin and nestle your rosemary and garlic cloves in between them. Roast in the oven for 25mins whilst you complete the steps below.

Slice your washed chard/kale leaves thinly and set aside.

Peel or wash your veggies, parsnip, carrot and onion. Chop these into large chunks for grating or chopping in your food processor. Chop your onion first and set aside, the carrot and parsnip can be done together.

Add your olive oil to a large heavy bottomed pan/wok with a lid, heat the oil over a medium heat and add your chopped red onion. Stir until beginning to soften and then add your grated veggies.

Once your veggies have softened, this will take about 4 mins, add your lentils, tomatoes, stock cube, herbs and tomato puree. Reduce your heat to a low simmer and pop a lid on your pan and leave to cook for approx 30mins. Your lentils should not need additional liquid but if they are cooking fast then add ½ cup of hot water to the mix.

Your lentils should be tender but still maintain their shape, nothing worse than a soggy lentil!! Once you are happy with the texture of your lentils replace the lid of the pan and set aside on a very low heat.

Remove your chicken thighs from the oven and shred between two forks on a chopping board. Set aside. Remove your garlic cloves and set aside. Leave the chicken juices in the roasting tin.

Pour your chicken juices into a heavy bottomed pan/wok on a high heat (if your chicken hasn’t thrown off at least a tablespoon of juices then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil). Once the juices heated add your chard/kale and squeeze your garlic cloves into the mix too.

Once these have wilted add your chicken and just stir through, add salt and pepper to taste and serve on a bed of warm lentils.

Have you noticed how very suddenly we have ‘fallen’ into Autumn this year? I feel like one minute I was watching the boys play cricket in grass stained whites and all of sudden it’s all about rugby and muddy boots. Leaves crunching underfoot in September feels a little early but here at Kate’s Table I’m embracing the Autumn. After a busy Summer I feel more than ready for some hibernation and hygge, the candles are lit, the blankets are handy for snuggling up again and I’m seeking out Autumn fruit and vegetables. See my blog post tomorrow on buying seasonal fruit and veg for some inspiration on what to buy this month.

Beef and Autumn veg stew

This is a super warming dish that can sit on your hob or in your oven to keep the kitchen warm and make the house smell delicious! I was inspired by Mr Kate’s Table’s parsnip crop this year, he pulled up some epic parsnips that demanded to be cooked immediately, He’s also a bit of an amatuer brewer and made an really authentic Milk Stout last year that found its way from cellar to kitchen for this recipe.

Method

This is super simple and requires very little intervention, prep and start cooking in the morning and eat later in the day.

Slice your onions, peel and chop your veg into chunks and set aside.

Combine the flour and mixed herbs in a large mixing bowl. Toss your raw diced beef into the flour and herb mixture and thoroughly coat the beef with the flour.

In a large, heavy based saucepan or casserole heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over a medium/high heat (you may need more so keep it to hand).

Place a small handful of beef into the pan, move around the pan until each piece is browned and drain in a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. If you feel you need more oil then add a tablespoon at a time, don’t be afraid of the stickiness that will be at the bottom of the pan, you’ll be using this later. Repeat until all your beef is browned and in the bowl.

Turn your hob down to a medium heat. Add enough water to cover the base of your pan/casserole and scrape all the lovely beefy flavour off the bottom of the pan. Once this is combined add your sliced onion and stir for a few moment until it starts to soften.

Next add your beef, stout (keep 100ml to one side in case you need to add more liquid), bay leaves, red wine vinegar, stock cube, mustard and all the veg. Once these are stirred in turn your hob down as low as it will go or pop into a low oven of 100 degrees celsius.

Now comes the good bit, walk away (don’t whatever you do taste it as it’s not wonderfully tasty until the alchemy of the stout and beef have done their thing!). Walk away for at least 1 1/2 hrs, give it a stir if you can’t resist and leave it again. Add the rest of your stout if you check it at any time and think it needs more liquid.

I’m not going to give you an exact time, some of us like to have the beef falling apart and others like to still have some chew. Mine cooked for 4hrs on the lowest setting on my hob and the beef was starting to fall apart nicely. You need to make sure it has at least 3hrs but you could easily turn it off and say come back to turn it on for 30mins later in the day to warm it through.

I like to serve this with a mustardy cauliflower mash and garlic stir fried greens like kale or chard. My boys love it with roast potatoes!